Tim’s 2017 Board Game Resolutions

I love the New Year!  Not just because my birthday is the 2nd but because like many others it’s a chance to look back at your previous year and try to improve yourself.  And like many others, set goals on how to be a better person.  And like many others, come February all goals are lost and forgotten.  BUT….not this year!  This year will be different!  Mainly because this is about board gaming, and I don’t plan on not board gaming this year.

The following is a list of things I would like to get accomplished this year while playing board games!

1.  Win more than 2% of the games I play!

I doubt this one will be achievable.  There are lots of very intelligent guys in my game group and many times I feel like I am just along for the ride.  I do win occasionally, but not very much.  Not just that but my wife constantly throttles me in games.  Not sure if I want her to win so she will keep playing with me or because she is that much better than me.  Any way, if I can win one out of 50 games I will be happy.  I am not going to sacrifice having fun though and I probably won’t even keep track of when I win but I will try.

2.  Complete a 10×5 Challenge

Most of you have probably heard of the 10×10 challenge.  If not this is when you choose 10 games and play them 10 times each. Now, with Grant buying too many games:), we need to often play the new ones to either review or just because we want to play a new game.  I don’t think I will have time to play 10 games 10 times each.  So, I brought it down to a 10×5 challenge.  We will choose 10 games and play them 5 times in 2017.  I hope this will allow us to play the games that we already have and not be so caught up into buying the new games.  I will probably have my wife choose a couple since she will be the one I will most likely play with.  The games we have chosen are……

Wife’s Picks

• Orleans by Tasty Minstrel Games
• Kanban by Stronghold Games
• Marvel Legendary by Upper Deck
• Clank! by Renegade Studio Games
• Hangtown by Jonathan Pac Cantin Games

My Picks

• Eminent Domain by Tasty Minstrel Games
• Simurgh by NSKN Legendary Games
• Mombasa by R&R Games
• Dice City by AEG
• Ave Roma by A-Games

3.  Teach a game and get ALL the rules right the first time.

We have a running joke in our group that every game we play has an asterisk attached too it because we always either miss a rule or don’t play a rule the right way.  I have been designated the “teacher” of the group and so many games we play it falls on my shoulders to get the rules out to the group and flow of the game.  For the most part I do a pretty good job, I think.  But sure enough once we get done playing one of us will go over the rules and find something that I missed.  Just once I would like to teach a game and know all the little details so we can have one true winner.  Wish me luck!

4.  Go ONE week without buying a new board game!

This one might be the hardest of them all to reach.  Not only do I love new board games but I also love trading games away that I no longer play or don’t see playing much in the future.  I joke about one week but it not that far from a stretch.  I also want to hold back on buying new games to play the older games that I have to even see if they are worth keeping.  I have no idea what new games are scheduled for 2017 but needless to say I am sure there will be plenty I will be tempted to buy and or play.

5.  While attending Conventions have a solid plan……or no plan at all??

I absolutely love going to conventions.  Last year, Origins was my first ever and I was able to go to Gen Con for 2 days.  I was instantly hooked.  This year, now that I know what to expect, I want to plan out my conventions a little more……or do I?  I do like playing in some events if there are games that interest me…..but I also love just walking around and finding hidden gems that you would never have thought about going to because they don’t have a big name attached to them.  This year was Fallen Lands and Dragoon.  I would have never found those games at Gen Con if I was busy with a precise schedule every hour.  We also found a play testing area where we were able to play a great co-op Mortals.  I think I will do a bit of both….schedule for a day and then roam for another day….sure….sounds good to me.

6.  Improve my luck in random games

I do not do well at randomness in games…..I don’t do well with strategy either…see Resolution #1 above.  I am horrible at rolling dice and don’t seem to have much luck at card draws either.  This is why I mainly stay away from games like Magic and other card battle systems.  At this point I think it’s all in my head so for 2017 it’s nothing but good thoughts and feelings towards dice and cards.  I’m also going to put in some serious practice.  I’m gunna roll dice 100 times a day and randomly draw cards for every choice I make.  What’s for dinner?  Draw a card!  What should I wear today?  Draw a card!  After all, practice makes perfect! Maybe I should do that with buying new games, that might help me with Resolution #4.

-Tim